LitWhat are the most original and interesting inventions of the post-ROTJ EU?

I began thinking yesterday in the Disney Wars thread about what the most original and interesting developments of the post-ROTJ EU have been.

I think, after Episode 6, and before knowing there would be an Episode 7, most of us assumed:
1. the Republic would be restored
2. Han and Leia would get married and have kids, who would be trained as Jedi
3. Luke would recreate the Jedi
4. and after watching the PT, that the new Jedi would be an improvement over the old Jedi, especially getting rid of the "no marriages/families" rule, and perhaps stop blindly serving the Republic

Given that, I'd say those developments in the post-ROTJ EU aren't exactly original, or too interesting. When we first discovered there was an EU, with books and comics that take place after Episode 6, we likely expected all of that.

So, after realizing that, what do you think are the most original and interesting post-ROTJ inventions of the EU? What did you not expect to happen, and the result ended up being really cool?

The one that came to my mind immediately is: the unique evolution of the Empire.

Yes, we all expected the Empire to collapse after Palpatine's death, since that's when the saga seemed to end. And it made sense that it would splinter, there would be warlords fighting amongst themselves, etc.

But then came something that many of us might not have expected. The last remnant of the Empire actually made peace with the restored Republic. The Empire also started to become less sexist, less human-centric, more tolerant and a genuine emphasis on order. It was no longer a cult of personality for the Emperor, and in fact existed without one for decades. It ceased to be about destruction, domination, and superweapons. By the time of LEGACY, we even had it being ruled by a light-side Jedi dynasty, with the Empire also having its own Jedi order that serve it similar to how the old Jedi served the Republic. And there was also the existence of the Imperial Mission, to spread the Empire's influence through peaceful and constructive means while helping the disadvantaged.

Now, who would have thought that this would be the fate of the Empire, back when we saw Episode 6 end?! That is why I think the Empire's evolution is definitely one of the most original and interesting inventions of the post-ROTJ EU.

I began thinking yesterday in the Disney Wars thread about what the most original and interesting developments of the post-ROTJ EU have been.

I think, after Episode 6, and before knowing there would be an Episode 7, most of us assumed:
1. the Republic would be restored
2. Han and Leia would get married and have kids, who would be trained as Jedi
3. Luke would recreate the Jedi
4. and after watching the PT, that the new Jedi would be an improvement over the old Jedi, especially getting rid of the "no marriages/families" rule, and perhaps stop blindly serving the Republic

Given that, I'd say those developments in the post-ROTJ EU aren't exactly original, or too interesting. When we first discovered there was an EU, with books and comics that take place after Episode 6, we likely expected all of that.

So, after realizing that, what do you think are the most original and interesting post-ROTJ inventions of the EU? What did you not expect to happen, and the result ended up being really cool?

The one that came to my mind immediately is: the unique evolution of the Empire.

Yes, we all expected the Empire to collapse after Palpatine's death, since that's when the saga seemed to end. And it made sense that it would splinter, there would be warlords fighting amongst themselves, etc.

But then came something that many of us might not have expected. The last remnant of the Empire actually made peace with the restored Republic. The Empire also started to become less sexist, less human-centric, more tolerant and a genuine emphasis on order. It was no longer a cult of personality for the Emperor, and in fact existed without one for decades. It ceased to be about destruction, domination, and superweapons. By the time of LEGACY, we even had it being ruled by a light-side Jedi dynasty, with the Empire also having its own Jedi order that serve it similar to how the old Jedi served the Republic. And there was also the existence of the Imperial Mission, to spread the Empire's influence through peaceful and constructive means while helping the disadvantaged.

Now, who would have thought that this would be the fate of the Empire, back when we saw Episode 6 end?! That is why I think the Empire's evolution is definitely one of the most original and interesting inventions of the post-ROTJ EU.

I think a lot of the more original things the post-ROTJ EU has done have (or at least used to be) some of more maligned, for good for bad. Just off the top of my head:

Black Fleet Crisis gave us a Leia who, while leader of the Republic, was also not universally loved or infallible; an enemy that was quite different from the Empire; a much different focus on themes than the movies; Luke who took quite a different approach to the Force than just using it as a tool to hack and slash; and movie characters who had generally grown from the personalities they had in ROTJ rather than maintaining them in a holding pattern.

Corellian Trilogy gave us both a look at the Solo family drama rather than Skywalker focus; the problems with keeping the galaxy unified and races in harmony; and for the first time a look at a deeper mystery to the universe that didn't have anything to do with the Jedi or Force. Same with Crystal Star to a degree.

Truce at Bakura and (of course) NJO gave us both Imperial-Rebel peace and joining forces against a much greater outside threat to the galaxy.

And so on...

Now, while most of these admittedly failed because of terrible writing, a large part of their reaction was also due to them not being "Star Warsy enough." So it's been a Catch-22: the EU at first wasn't slavish enough to the themes and expected developments of the movies. So it went the other way, resulting in the last ten years of Del Rey where they've just been carbon-copying stuff from the prequels into the post-ROTJ, which is now a new low of its own.

The Yuuzhan Vong, Anakin Solo, the evolution of the Empire.
The Vong are the best new species in the EU. Nom Anor and Vua Rapuung are the best two Vong. I love their tech. They are worthy successors to the Empire as the main Bad Guys.
Anakin Solo is the best character in the EU imo. I loved the continuation of Leia finding out Vader was her father. I hate that they never got to hash things out in ROTJ. Anakin's struggle with the Dark Side with the dreams of Vader's mask in JJK was well done and got me behind the character.
The Empire-The Empire and the Rebellion is my favorite war of the movies so more Empire is good. The NJO bringing the Empire into the fold was a great idea. I have no problem with the Empire existing after ROTJ, I expect the Empire to be seen in the ST. The Empire in the Legacy comics is great. Split in two with exciting new Ship designs.

The focus upon starfighter pilots in the X-Wing series. It's convinced me that a serial TV series centered on the missions and personal lives/problems of a fighter squadron's pilots could be a big success. My favorite era to set this in would be the beginnings of the Rebellion. You have a just-formed squadron with pilots from wildly varying backgrounds (and who don't trust each other much, or at all, because of that) and constant equipment problems going up against, and frequently forced to run from, an apparently invincible Empire. Then you show the squadron's progress, and through it the Rebellion's, through episodes and seasons - it starts to build on its initially small victories and becomes a real thorn in the Empire's side, it gets new pilots who were inspired to join the fight because of those small but inspiring victories, the equipment situation improves little by little as more and more groups and species join the Rebellion, and in one episode the brand-new X-Wing fighter is triumphally introduced...

Star Wars Legacy. If we're talking purest about individual works. With the potential exception of having another order of Sith, that series has an amazing sense of world building. The Fel Empire, Ossus Project, Imperial Knights. There's a lot going on there. Sure, it's the furthest point on the timeline but it has such a strong sense on the setting that it doesn't matter. It is, undoubtedly, the lushest part of the Post-ROTJ EU.

Although, if stressed to name the one thing, however, that represents one of the best things about Post-ROTJ, it's Paelleon. He is emblematic of the most important thing of all: the gradual shift of the Empire from what it was to what it will become.

I agree the way the Empire originally fragmented, and then developed over the decades has been extremely interesting.

As alien species go, I place both the Yuuzhan Vong and the Ssi-ruu as two of the best we've ever seen.

I'd then say some of the expansion we've gotten on Boba Fett and Mandalorians in general. Fenn Shysha, the Mandalorion Protectors, Jaster Mereel's Supercommando Codex, etc.

I personally have to mention Rogue Squadron, not really any one member (Though what we've gotten of Wedge Antilles expanded history over the years has been pure gold) but really every major member who was created, introduced, and developed with their own unique personalities.

I still really like the idea that, with the Jedi Order being comprehensively destroyed, its libraries torched, its advocates killed, nigh-on every trace of it having ever existed obliterated, Luke goes back to older times - he resurrects a much older Jedi tradition to restore the order and it works.

Rogue Squadron is a must - the stuff that was done in the X-Wing books was superb. Particularly the way Mercy Kill drew on the Vong era - it's about the only book to do so and I'm no fan of the Vong!

The Yuuzhan Vong. The New Jedi Order took a culture that on the surface looked too one-dimensional and ridiculous to carry an entire 19-novel series (they're hordes of invaders! Who love pain! Who use biotech! And are really, really unpleasant!) and managed to turn it into a multifaceted society with internal fractures and factions, whose journey became every bit as engrossing as that of the GFFA which they'd invaded. Just like heroes such as Luke and Jacen went from being unable to enage with the Yuuzhan Vong (neither being able to understand them nor willing to risk fighting them for philosophical reasons) to embracing the need to save and love the YV as much as their own galaxy, through a combination of action against them and on their behalf, so the reader gradually comes to understand, find fascination with, and hope for the Yuuzhan Vong. Their internal philosophical and political struggles come to be as important as those of the Jedi, New Republic, Empire, Hapans and Chiss who are fighting them. And so, by the end of the series, characters like Elegos A'Kla and Vergere are proven correct regarding the need for all life to be included within the bounds of compassion. So here is a race that seems to be a horde of silly one dimensional black hats but actually drive a series that winds up being complex, compassionate and life-affirming. Proving to me (a sci-fi fan whose first loves are Star Trek and Babylon Five) that the Star Wars universe can be every bit as complicated and sophisticated as those 'verses, while still having characters who answer to titles like "Dread Lord" and "Potent One". Very good stuff. Very good stuff indeed.

I'm not sure that diminishes what Abeloth is as a concept though. Lovecraftian Force beast is one of the most daunting foes you could face. It certainly was fresher than Jacen or the Lost Tribe.

I didn't know abeloths were a thing, to be honest. Taking the idea from D&D, as you note, is a blow to originality but certainly not potential interest. Plus, we need to account for uniqueness within the universe. What was the last thing close to it? Waru?

The sad thing about Abeloth certainly isn't the idea. For Star Wars? It's a fascinating notion and could have pushed things in very interesting direction. The sad thing is that TOR actually does it better with two entities: Sel-Makor and Lotek'k, when the realm of writing should have been able to make Abeloth into something terrifying in a way that a game really couldn't.

Part of that comes from Denning's desire to tie things back to Mortis. It just doesn't work. Ignoring the implications it has by making Mortis literal, it ruins Abeloth. As a concept, on paper, it's grand. Once you give it a past, a purpose, and motivation, it becomes less effective, sadly.

Lovecraftian entities don't typically concern themselves with taking over human government, given their cosmic indifference to humanity. Abeloth didn't work for me in that regard. She had tentacles, but otherwise her motivations were comprehensible and she didn't have a sense of cosmic indifference toward the characters. I don't think that the concept works for Star Wars, TBH.

Also more to the point was not only that Denning saw something in D&D and thought it'd be neat to copy it for Star Wars, he actually wrote D&D stuff with aboleths in it. That's crossing the line from homage to laziness.